Pitching with Confidence

[Way2Be]

How do you build confidence?

My DD is 11YOA (5'2") and completing her 12U summer travel season (playing up, still 10U eligible). She has been pitching for 15 months. Yesterday her fastball was gunned at a steady 45, with a few 46-47. In the early going, she struggled with control, but has improved greatly (still work to do). She has a 1:1 K to BB ratio.

Her problem is between the ears. She expects to throw 9 pitches, 3 K's and walk back to the bench (textbook perfectionist). Lately, if she walks 2 batters, combines a walk with a hit/error etc. she gets rattled and the wheels fall off. No ability to weather the storm. And if she gives up the lead, forget it.

Thoughts?

 

[Momo'sDad]

How do you build confidence?

My DD is 11YOA (5'2") and completing her 12U summer travel season (playing up, still 10U eligible). She has been pitching for 15 months. Yesterday her fastball was gunned at a steady 45, with a few 46-47. In the early going, she struggled with control, but has improved greatly (still work to do). She has a 1:1 K to BB ratio.

Her problem is between the ears. She expects to throw 9 pitches, 3 K's and walk back to the bench (textbook perfectionist). Lately, if she walks 2 batters, combines a walk with a hit/error etc. she gets rattled and the wheels fall off. No ability to weather the storm. And if she gives up the lead, forget it.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are THANK YOU for posting this.

While I don't take any delight whatsoever in those struggles (I'm the father of a young pitcher myself), what you posted highlights one of the reasons why pitchers do not typically move from 10u to 12u travel a year early. Most of the time, they aren't ready.

She has the confidence when she first goes out there. Some young players don't even start with that, so I think she's ahead of the game in that regard. She hasn't been pitching that long. Over time, she will develop more control and as she gets older, she will also mature and it will be tougher to rattle her.

 

[Way2Be]

You're welcome. I read your earlier post so I knew I would get one reply!

As for the playing up, she had no choice. 10U club season ended in early June and our town could not gather enough 10U girls for a team. Her only choice was 12U. Due to her height, speed, strength, etc. I do not mind her playing up. She was going to make the change now or in a few months when her club team starts fall ball. She enjoys playing other positions. With the exception of catcher, she can play anywhere in the field and moving the pitcher's plate back 5 ft. has done wonders for her hitting. Back to her confidence...suggestions?

 

[starsnuffer]

Not every kid can be a pitcher. If it were easy everyone would do it. Self confidence must be owned, not provided by an outside source. This kid needs to understand that if she wants to pitch, she needs to figure out how she is going to succeed, no one is going to give her that.

You can try to find a team with a coach that will "motivate" her, and tell her what a good pitcher she is and how she's doing a great job with every little success, and you'll be able to get a few more years of pitching out of her that way. Just bear in mind that every time this kid is being coddled, some other kid is being coached and taught new skills. Inevitably, the self motivated kid will pass her by.

Jenny Finch's book and the chapter from Hal's "Sneaky softball" book on hustle have been very helpful to me when I coached 12u and worked with kids. Some really took the lessons learned to heart and became self motivators, some didn't. Give the kid the tools and information needed to be successful. Their first step is to motivate themselves to do something about it.

Good luck!

-W

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Her problem is between the ears. She expects to throw 9 pitches, 3 K's and walk back to the bench (textbook perfectionist). Lately, if she walks 2 batters, combines a walk with a hit/error etc. she gets rattled and the wheels fall off. No ability to weather the storm. And if she gives up the lead, forget it.

As they play in older groups they ARE NOT going to throw 9 pitches and retire the offense, not against good comp. She needs to know that. My DD will work a batter to a full count almost every time, you have to work the zone and move the ball around to keep them guessing.

Walks are a pain, but they are going to happen, just keep them to a minimum and move on to the next batter.

My DD absolutely LOVES to come in as the relief if the starter gives up the lead or enough runs to make it close. This year she has gotten 7 saves and 5 wins by relief. It is a mental state for sure. I'm not sure how or where she got that, nothing I breed into her because I use to hate coming in behind in a game.

Giving up the lead isn't fun for any pitcher. I tell DD to keep firing it in there and get out of the inning, don't worry about the base runners.......let the defense handle that. And when the 3rd out is made, be vocal in the dugout and pump up the bats. "let's get those runs back".

 

[02Crush]

I put a neon string staked in the ground from the center of the pitchers plate all the way to the back point of home plate. This is their visual power line. I then let them practice on locating pitches with them. We will take breaks and walk to home plate every so often. It is there where I will explain to them how moving the ball around keeps a batter on their heels by setting up as a batter and giving them a visual of how a pitch can easier or tougher to get a solid hit of of based on it's location. The point is movement and they need to know that. I have taught two girls to understand how important it is now and it is slowly making them so much more effective, even at a young age. She is just still at a point where Strike = Perfection. She is still thinking it is all on her shoulders and needs to understand she has a defense behind her and all she needs to do is make it Hard for the batter to get a clean hit. This will come with time.

 

[NVfishing]

I put a neon string staked in the ground from the center of the pitchers plate all the way to the back point of home plate. This is their visual power line. I then let them practice on locating pitches with them. We will take breaks and walk to home plate every so often. It is there where I will explain to them how moving the ball around keeps a batter on their heels by setting up as a batter and giving them a visual of how a pitch can easier or tougher to get a solid hit of of based on it's location. The point is movement and they need to know that. I have taught two girls to understand how important it is now and it is slowly making them so much more effective, even at a young age. She is just still at a point where Strike = Perfection. She is still thinking it is all on her shoulders and needs to understand she has a defense behind her and all she needs to do is make it Hard for the batter to get a clean hit. This will come with time.

I like this idea. Think I will incorporate it into my DD's workout.

I've already had my first discussion with my 8yr old about her behavior on the rubber. She was starting to turn her head to the sky when she made a bad pitch. One it looks like they are losing the confidence and that doesn't look good to the team or anyone around. Two, confidence helps with calls at the plate. If they act like they are doing great I believe they get more calls their way. Seemed to work because the confidence she showed on the rubber this weekend was outstanding. More calls went her way. When she did struggle, hit two batters in a row after being up 0-2, and 1-2 in the count, she came back for two strikeouts and the win. Even after a bad pitch she showed the intensity on the rubber that was missed a few weeks ago when she started to look up at the sky.

 

[Herbertj1]

How do you build confidence?

Her problem is between the ears. She expects to throw 9 pitches, 3 K's and walk back to the bench (textbook perfectionist). Lately, if she walks 2 batters, combines a walk with a hit/error etc. she gets rattled and the wheels fall off. No ability to weather the storm. And if she gives up the lead, forget it.

Thoughts?

Without knowing more about the situation, it's difficult to make suggestions. There are many underlying circumstances that could lead to mental issues. I'm just going to take a guess here. Can I assume since she's looking for perfection, she's achieved it in the past against the weaker competition in her own age group? Now that she's playing against opponents that don't strike out very easily and put the ball in play, that opens the field for errors. Hitters at the higher level foul off good pitches until she loses the count and gives up the free pass, then she loses her confidence because she expects to get every hitter on every at bat.

Like I said, just a guess, but if this is the case. Your job is simple. Let her struggle. Talk to teh coach and ask him to let her struggle through it whenever possible. She needs to learn humility. She needs to lose the "I'm invincible" attitude, and she will in time if you handle it properly. When she struggles you need to let it happen. Her coaches need to let it happen. The worst thing ANYONE can do for your DD is to bring out the blankets and binkis when she struggles. Don't over coach her mentally. When she struggles mentally, reinforce mechanics. Ultimately, when you describe "The wheels falling off", she's losing her mechanics because she's second guessing herself and over-thinking every pitch. Don't coach her confidence. It wont work. All you will do is reinforce what she's already done on her own.... doubt herself.

 

[Axe]

They just have to struggle over time and find out if they are a fighter or if they maybe don't have the makeup to be in that circle. Its not for everybody. I tend to have an opposite problem, mine loses focus when there AREN'T runners on base and creates runners on situations that she then has to bear down and get out of.

 

[Way2Be]

Thank you to all for your suggestions and advice. I will support her, but in the end, she is the one who has to want it.

Herbert, your assumptions are all correct. She has experienced more batted balls/errors at this level. More bothersome to her are the 3-2 pitches that used to be strike 3 that are now fouled off, forcing her to throw another pitch over or near the plate. As I mentioned, she has only been pitching for 15 months, so throwing two in a row over the plate in a live game is not automatic.

Axe, not a bad problem to have. Much easier to solve ... I think.

Thanks, again.